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41

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Ed had thought that one hickey was bad. Boy, was he wrong. Now his whole chest was covered with the buggers. Luckily, his makeup collection consisted of the right cover-up to hide the hideous blemishes.

Another luck he had had, was that Nadia and Carlina had not forced him into... 'submission.' They weren't into that. It seemed as though they just enjoyed harassing him without going all the way. Which he supposed was slightly better for his and Kathy's sake... somehow.

But he still was often depressed as to what to do about the whole situation, and often cried to himself alone, locked in the bathroom sitting on the toilet.

He really hoped his hickeys would fade away soon. Until then, he'd have to hide from Kathy. And it would be hard.

As they walked to the Brinkley house, Ed saw a small corner store and told Kathy that he needed to go in there to get something.

"What is it that you need to get?" Kathy asked, walking through the doorway and into the little shop.

Ed walked in after her and let go of the door he had been holding. It closed and a set of bells attached jingled happily. "Well. Mr. Brinkley's been really kind to me and I just wanted to get him something as a little token of my appreciation."

Kathy nodded, looking around the store at all the items. "That's nice."

Ed looked around for a bit, then went up to the front desk clerk. "Hello," The young girl greeted, seeing Ed.

"Hi. I was wondering if you have any cigars?"

The girl nodded, smiling and staring intently at him. "We sure do," she said, pointing at the shelving behind her that contained various cigarettes, liquor and cigars, but still keeping her eyes on Ed.

"Ah, I see," Ed said, squinting, trying to look at the brands of cigars from where he was standing. "I guess you gotta hide them from the kiddies."

The clerk nodded, staring at him and smiling wider than ever.

Kathy found nothing of interest in the store, came up behind Ed and stood, waiting for him to finish so they could leave.

Ed pointed to the shelf. "Uh, I'll take a box of Lexington's."

The clerk, making sure she still had her eyes on Ed, grabbed a box of Lexington's from the shelf and placed them on the counter. "Will that be all?" She asked, still smiling.

Ed turned to Kathy. "You want anything, sugar?" He asked.

Kathy shook her head no and Ed turned back to the clerk. "Just that."

The clerk rang up the box of cigars and stared at Ed some more. "That'll be seven twenty-two, please."

Kathy's eyes widened. "Wow. Cigars sure are expensive! Are you sure we can afford this, Ed?"

Ed took his wallet from his pocket and began rummaging through it. "Oh, Kathy. You wouldn't want to deny Mr. Brinkley his gift, now would you? He really, really deserves it."

Kathy rolled her eyes. "I can tell you something else he deserves..." She muttered under her breath.

"What's that, snookums?"

"Nothing," Kathy replied.

Ed handed the clerk the cash and she deposited it into the register, still smiling and staring. Then she placed the box of cigars into a paper bag, handed the bag and a receipt to Ed.

"Thank you, miss," he said. "Have a good day."

"You too," She replied and gave Ed a wink.

Ed frowned and he and Kathy left the store.

"What was THAT all about?" Kathy asked as they reached the outside and continued their way to the Brinkleys.

Ed gulped and wiped some sweat from his forehead. "Nothing... nothing..."

Kathy eyed Ed suspiciously, nevertheless did not speak. In fact, not another word was spoken until they arrived at Howard's front doorstep.

They were ushered inside and Ed was able to present his gift to Howard.

"Oh! How kind of you, Edward!" He said, taking the cigars from Ed and setting them down on the coffee table. "Lexington's! My favorite brand!"

Ed blushed in front of his favorite man-friend, then cowered from Nadia as she asked him to 'help' her in the kitchen as she usually did.

Nadia began unbuttoning Ed's shirt.

"Nadia, there's only so many hickeys a man can take. You've turned me into some kind of... jacked-up Dalmatian."

"Ruff ruff," Nadia replied and pulled his shirt open. "I don't mind if you've g-- Ahh!" She said, disgustedly, seeing Ed's spotted chest. She closed his shirt, kissed him, and then backed away a bit.

"I'm going to start on dinner... lend me a hand?"

Ed buttoned up his shirt and fixed himself up. "Sure," He said happily. Perhaps he had found a way out? He only hoped so... "What are we making?"

"Potatoes Au Graton."

Ed's mouth began to water. "P-P-P-Potatoes Au Graton?" He asked, his stomach grumbling.

"Yes. Why?"

"I loooooove Potatoes Au Graton!" Ed said, giddy.

"Then I'll make sure to give you an extra-big portion, my darling," Nadia said, playfully tapping Ed on the nose with her finger.

He looked at the countertop and saw some potatoes sitting there. "Potatoes!" He said cheerfully and picked one up. He rubbed his hand along it, then brought it to his face and rubbed it along his cheek. "I love you, Mr. Potato."

Nadia regarded him with a furrowed brow and put some oven mitts on. "Yeah... you do that. I'll be over here making chicken salad."

"Potato," Ed said simply, staring at his starchy friend.